Detroit: Become Canadian
by Teufelskrieg
Summary: Follows the story of multiple characters; from Connor to Corporal Roland Lehmann, amidst US civil unrest and international diplomatic and military intrigue.
1. Prelude - Bill 1001

**10th Session, 49th Parliament**

**William V, 2036**

**The House of Commons of Canada**

**BILL C-1001**

This act of Parliament shall amend the Military Service Act of 1917, hereby reinstated.

The King, through the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, makes the

following Act:

**SHORT TITLE**

This Act may be known as the _Conscription Act._

**INTERPRETATION**

1\. These definitions apply to this Act.

"Armed forces" means any component of the Canadian Armed Forces.

"Conscription" means compulsion to serve in the Armed forces.

"Eligible manpower" means any male qualified under Section 3.

"Conscription database" means the database showing the family name, given names and address of every eligible man.

"Conscript" means a man inducted through the conscription act.

"Induction date" means the date of induction in the Armed Forces.

"Recruitment office" means the place where conscripts and volunteers report for enlistment.

**ELIGIBILITY**

2\. The Armed Forces require certain documentation for a recruit to prove who they are, and are eligible for induction into the Canadian Armed Forces. Acceptable proofs of identity include:

A valid Canadian passport.

A birth certificate or baptismal certificate.

A valid Canadian or US driver's license.

University or High School student ID card for the current school year.

**REQUIREMENTS**

3\. Every male who is **(a)** a Canadian citizen and **(b)** at least sixteen years of age, and **(c)** no older than forty-four years of age, is eligible for conscription.

Everybody who is so qualified by these requirements shall have their name included on the conscription database for their nearest recruitment office, and shall be compelled to report to said office should they receive a notice of conscription (_colloquially: draft card_).

**EXEMPTIONS:**

The following persons may be issued an exemption letter from the Ministry of Defence:

Those who have previously served and returned injured.

Those who, by verification of a physician's note, possess a mental or physical defect that shall inhibit their ability to serve in the Armed Forces.

Those who fail to meet the physical requirements of the Armed Forces, and those who fail the entrance exam.

Men whom, lacking a spouse and having custody of their children, would be put in an unnecessary state of duress in finding care for their children.

**IN FORCE**

This act shall be immediately in force after receiving royal assent.


	2. Prologue

**[CFB Alert, Northwest Territories, Canada]**

The Arctic darkness that shrouds the polar region for six months of the year is unlike any dark sky seen in a more hospitable place. The lack of light pollution, and unique polar conditions, makes this blackness appear as a deep blue. Down below that beautiful Arctic night were the flourescent lights of an airbase, with several concrete structures jutting up from the ground that acted as entrances to a larger underground complex, but these smaller bunkers were overshadowed by the larger control tower and hangers that hugged the two ice runways closely, and ice-covered aircraft parked in the open, standing silently in the eerie howl of the Arctic wind.

The Canadian Army stationed thousands of soldiers in the high North as the conflict between Russia and the United States escalated, with Canada as a third player to the conflict, and having a conflict of their own with the Danish over the status of Greenland. CFB Alert was the furthest North military installation on Canadian soil, and was the home of some three hundred Canadian infantry, and four squadrons of RCAF maritime patrol aircraft. It was also considered a fundamentally boring place to be, with no internet or contact with the outside world anywhere near them. The men of Alert had only each other for company.

Below ground, a maze of concrete corridors and rooms carved out of the permafrost stretched in all directions, and were the primary installations of the base, with everything the garrison would need to live a somewhat acceptable existence until they were rotated out to somewhere hopefully less high on the latitudinal scale. One was content to stand and watch the coffee maker brew the addictive elixir he was craving, of an unknown brand and unknown quality. It wasn't called 'sawdust' for nothing, though.

There were four others, seated around a table silently poking away at their morsels, each minding his own. The snap of a paper clip against a sheet would be easily audible, the only noise the suppressed scraping of a fork or the humming brew of the coffee machine. The one standing by the coffee machine itself, a tall blonde in the same raindrop fatigues as the rest, had two inverted chevrons on his shoulder, and an AK-92 on his shoulder.

His attention turned from the coffee machine to the dead stillness of the break room, scanning with hawkish grey eyes. "What's the matter with you?" He said, tearing the silence to shreds with an ironic tang to his words.

The others looked up, and at each other; some shrugged, others just ignored it. Nobody had seemed to notice the dead stillness in their introspection, or the tasteless bland flavours of their food rations.

"You're the one staring at a coffee machine." Replied another double-chevroned soldier, himself staring at a phone and chewing on what must've been the most stale potato chips this side of the Arctic circle, having expired well over six months ago. His fellow corporal chuckled under his breath, with a passive nod passing for a response. "That I am," the coffee addict conceded.

"Have fun with that, I'm going to go enjoy what little sleep I can squeeze in, wake me up at noon." The chip eater said with a sigh, shoving the nearly empty small bag into his uniform breast pocket and standing, pushing the leather folding chair back under their metal table and disappearing into the endless claustrophobic hallways, in the same route he'd taken a hundred times before.

**[Windsor, Ontario, Canada]**

By contrast, the thousands of conscripts tasked with guarding the American border didn't have time to lounge around. On this bright morning, shortly before dawn, the first of many horse mounted patrols were making their way along the Detroit River, combing the forest and river bank for the same thing they came looking for every day; refugees and US spies. Every day, this goal never materialised, yet every day they continued the same as the day before. The lack of quarry didn't dogger the already cripplingly poor morale of the _mostly_ conscript force, many of whom were just out of high school completing their mandatory service terms. Given all the furnishings and comforts of a thirty-year outdated army, the thankless cavalry reservists still had it better than anyone unlucky enough to have been assigned to the navy.

For the American soldiers that occasionally caught glimpses of the horsemen, it was a quirky sight worthy of a picture to see something that clashed with itself so brashly; modern soldiers riding horses. But it was, really, the most practical option for deep snow and limited vehicle availability, and for shaving off as many costs as possible. Horses breed for free, but factories don't run for free.

The RCN PT boats, small fast craft armed with heavy machine guns on the bow and stern, were more of a regular sight for the US soldiers and US Coast Guard that occasionally ran into them. Although treaty agreements made following the War of 1812 prohibited any armed craft from being in the Great Lakes region, repeated American infractions led to the Canadians deploying their own craft in the area, along with armoured gunboats, most using repurposed T-72 turrets as their armament. Lake Superior was also home to a small fleet of coastal defence ships made small enough to pass through the locks at Toronto and out to the sea via the Saint Lawrence, which now too crawled with ships.

Every care was still taken to avert any chance of conflict, but at least two incidents had already occurred in and around the Detroit River. This further tightened border security, and made everyone involved all the more suspicious of the other. The recent sightings of Russian soldiers alongside Canadian patrols, especially, gave the US cause for concern, and only deteriorated relations further.


End file.
